Travel Friends
Meet more friends

Hotels in Japan

Places & Sights

Japan > Hotels in Japan > About staying at a Ryokan

About staying at a Ryokan

Peter M. Geiser

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn and can be found all over Japan, from Tokyo to the smallest village.

A ryokan's rooms are floored with tatamis (bamboo mats). At night, the staff will roll out futons (thin matresses) directly on these tatamis and prepare the bedding for you. Yukatas (cotton kimonos in traditional designs, usually blue-white) are provided to wear in the room, about and for sleeping.

To stay at a ryokan can be an extraordinary and unforgettable experience, but not all Europeans will find them suitable for their needs. The following information and observations might help you decide:

1.
Traditional Japanese rules apply: Shoes have to be taken off at the entrance. Zori (traditional flip-flops) are provided.

2.
Ryokans have a curfew: Usually at 11 p.m. the doors are locked for good and you will find yourself either inside or out. In large, exciting places such as Tokyo, this means that you always have to consider the transfer time back to the ryokan and might have to leave somewhere early to make it.

3.
Many ryokans are located in older, traditional Japanese houses: This makes for great atmosphere, but also means that you have to be able to deal with stairs and dispense with elevators. It also means that should a fire happen, it is likely to be more destructive than in a modern hotel, because tatamis and wood burn extremely well.

4.
The rooms at some ryokans are small: There was a time when the size of Japanese rooms was determined on tatami size and the number or tatamis indicated how many persons could comfortably sleep in there. Once the futons are rolled out, you might find that there is no space in the room anymore for your luggage or backpacks (no kidding).

5.
Ryokans serve Japanese breakfasts: Delicious and lovingly prepared, but perhaps not to everybody's taste. Traditional breakfasts include rice, omelette, fried fish, algae, sometimes minced meat with a kind of cooked gourd, etc. to be eaten with chopsticks.

6.
English is not spoken everywhere: It can happen to you that only one person of a ryokan's staff speaks English and obviously, that person will not always be around. It helps to have some basic knowledge of Japanese.


In very traditional ryokans you might moreover encounter the following infrastructure:

Public baths: There is usually one separate bathroom with a gigantic bathtub for each sex. Most ryokans fill these tubs for some hours in the evening, e.g., from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Particular rules of politeness should be observed.

Shared toilets: One toilet room, containing cubicles and urinals, is shared by men and women. This is hardly ever a hygiene problem, because Japanese men are most fastidious in their toilet habits. However, it is quite unusual to meet somebody of the opposite sex in a "public" toilet.

Rice-paper partitions: Some ryokans still have rice-paper partitions between the rooms and the halls, which means that you will have to be as quiet and considerate as the Japanese while staying there.


Back to Hotels in Japan


Travel often, travel safely!
Enjoy your holidays!

Google
Web www.pmgeiser.ch